Leonardo Academy, a charitable organization that facilitates the development of national voluntary standards, announced that the public comment for National Sustainable Agriculture Standard (LEO-4000) is being extended to May 6, 2014.

The Standard Committee ballot of the standard is also being extended to May 6, 2014.

This ground-breaking standard, developed through the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) open, multi-stakeholder process, provides voluntary guidance and opportunities for recognition for producers interested in or engaged in sustainable crop production.

Michael Arny, President of Leonardo Academy, said, "We are extending the public comment period in response to a number of requests for more time to comment.

We invite all interested parties to review the draft National Sustainable Agriculture Standard (LEO-4000) and submit comments before the end of the public comment period.

Affected parties we would like to hear from include: producers, manufacturers and processors, distributors and retailers.

Please download and review the standard to see how it will work for you and submit your comments."

LEO-4000 is intended to help users navigate the increasingly confusing range of proprietary sustainability labels, specifications, information requests, and guides for agricultural products.

It is a comprehensive sustainability standard that provides a stable and reliable platform for producers to use in documenting and communicating their sustainability achievements while demonstrating compliance with other sustainability requirements and remaining flexible to meet the diverse needs of agriculture.

The standard will also help food manufacturers, retailers, and consumers purchase sustainable agricultural products and assess the authenticity of sustainable agricultural product claims.

The draft standard can be downloaded at: http://www.leonardoacademy.org/services/standards/agstandard.html

To submit public comments, please request a public comment form from agstandard@leonardoacademy.org.

To download the press release announcing the announcing the Public Comment period:http://www.leonardoacademy.org/newsandevents/press-release/552-national-sustainable-agriculture-standard-leo-4000-public-comment-period-launched-.html